Wednesday, June 9, 2010

The on air frustrations of Drew Goodman and Jeff Huson tell me one thing. The time for overreaction has passed. Seriously, when the announcers are audibly irritated, that's a great indication things aren't good. They're like the last line of defense for the club. Usually they're the ones trying to calm everyone down, subtly telling us we're overreacting to everything.

That's not happening anymore. They're pissed. They aren't as quick to defend players. They realize things need to start changing soon, or this season will go the way of 2008.... a complete waste.

That sense of urgency is apparent everywhere right now except where it matters... in the front office, clubhouse and dugout.

Like I said, the time for overreaction has passed. It's no longer an overreaction to suggest Don Baylor be fired. You can't bench your entire underperforming lineup... so we all know what needs to be done. If anything, the time for the team to stop underreacting (new word) has arrived.

The time for excuse making has also passed. The injuries have died down. This is pretty much our team. Huston Street and Jorge De La Rosa returning would be shots in the arm if the pitching were struggling, but it's not. This entire thing is on the offense. Has been the last 4-6 weeks.

Yes, they looked completely lost in the box for the most part, but the base running was a whole other level of WTF tonight.

Seth Smith caught completely asleep at second. Next inning, Herrera was nearly caught the same way. If he had been the Rockies would have never scored their second run. And then Ian Stewart was picked off at first, the call was just totally missed by another blind umpire.

To me that exposes a team that isn't focused on winning baseball. I don't know what the heck else they'd be focused on, but to be caught completely off guard the same way three different times... inexcusable. Also... pathetic.

One Positive

Aaron Cook was excellent tonight. Had a battle with his comment in the first inning but bounced back with a better sinker and a lot of groundballs. First time all season he got in rhythm and sustained it for an entire outing. At least we can take that away from this game.

Tomorrow it's Roy Oswalt vs. Jhoulys Chacin

How you feeling about that one Rockies fans? And how you feeling about Toronto, Minnesota and Boston coming up? Three teams that will absolutely wipe the floor with this Rockies team if things don't turn around starting tomorrow.

Does the beat continue on? Or does this team reach down and find something it's lacked all year? Answers coming soon. I hope we like what we see.

I wouldn't necessarily call this a shakeup because you're taking two of your better run producers (Olivo and Barmes) out of the lineup, but it's certainly a new, interesting dynamic with Herrera at the top, Smith further down, Mora at first, and Stewart hitting 8th.

I really like that Tracy is finding more starts for Mora. It almost makes me feel like he reads the blog (not really). Now I just wish he could find a way to get CarGo is a run producing spot. I hate that so many of his longballs are solo shots when he could be doing so much more damage down the lineup. And probably seeing better pitches too.